Carton with cap

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to containers, and more particularly to a cereal carton with a closing device, such as a cap. Unlike conventional cereal cartons, the container of the present invention does not include a plastic bag. The upper region of the container includes an angled surface connecting top surface and one of the side surfaces. The angled surface includes an access port with an opening, which is covered by a closing device. The closing device hermitically seals the container to preserve its contents.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims to priority to provisional application60/819,538, filed Jul. 7, 2006.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A variety of packages, including dispensing packages or containers, havebeen developed for food and drink products. More particular, variouspackages have been developed for dry goods.

These inventions are generally boxes or cartons for the storage anddispensing of dry cereals and other free-flowing particulate materials.Typically they are formed of a paperboard or cardboard outer carton anda product-containing liner. To reseal the remaining contents in thepackage after opening, the liner must be refolded over itself orotherwise sealed with a mechanical device. As such, sealing will varydepending on the user and consistent sealing is unlikely.

Liner-less paperboard cartons were therefore developed to overcome thedisadvantages of the lined paperboard cartons. These cartons frequentlyincluded an openable pouring spout which is formed or opened by tearinga portion of the panel. Some spouts are arranged to be re-closed afterdispensing of the content. Unfortunately, this type of liner-less cartonconstruction frequently does not provide the necessary sealing of theproduct remaining within the carton. Furthermore, liner-less cartonswhich incorporate an easily opened and reclosable pouring spout arefrequently complex in construction and expensive to manufacture as theyrequire complex scoring and weakening line patterns and/or necessitatethe utilization of excess amounts of paperboard or carton stock to formthe package.

Packages including “flip-open” reclosable spouts, such as U.S. Pat. No.3,956,865 (Schermund); U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,236 (Lowe); U.S. Pat. No.4,921,104 (Holmes); U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,780 (Foote et al.); U.S. Pat.No. 5,067,615 (Davitian); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,486 (Wein), have beendisclosed in the patent literature. However, the disadvantages withthese prior arts are that they are complex to construct and when the“flip-open” reclosable spout is closed, it may not provide a sufficientseal for the remaining product. Thus, the shelf life of the remainingproduct is significantly reduced.

Similar disadvantages are also present in other prior art cartons/boxeshaving reclosable pouring spouts, such as, U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,806(McSherry); U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,051 (Reil); U.S. Pat. No. 4,464,156(Holmstrom); U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,325 (Gordon et al.); U.S. Pat. No.4,930,683 (Farber); U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,542 (Roccaforte); U.S. Pat. No.5,067,613 (Bryan); U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,781 (Roccaforte); U.S. Pat. No.5,344,066 (Fogle); U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,986 (Bofterman); and U.S. Pat.No. 5,685,479 (Weber-Caspers).

Furthermore, prior arts similar to U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,806 (Hess et al),is impractical with the dispensing of dry goods products. The '806patent functions through the application of pressure on the side wallsto dispense the interior contents. The '806 patent like other prior artsare complex and expensive to manufacture. Therefore, because of thesimplicity of the present invention and the ease of use, the presentinvention is different from the prior arts.

SUMMARY

The present invention relates to containers, and more particularly to acereal carton with a closing device, such as a cap. Unlike conventionalcereal cartons, the container of the present invention does not includea plastic bag. The upper region of the container includes an angledsurface connecting top surface and one of the side surfaces. The angledsurface includes an access port with an opening, which is covered by aclosing device. The closing device hermitically seals the container topreserve its contents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the container without the closing devicein accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the container with the closing deviceremoved and the safety seal.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the container with the closing deviceon.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the container in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIGURES—REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   10 . . . Container-   12 . . . Angled Surface-   13 . . . Top Surface-   14 . . . Side Surface-   15 . . . Access Port-   16 . . . Closing Device-   17 . . . Safety Seal

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The novel features of the present invention will become apparent fromthe following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention andas illustrated in FIG. 1 through FIG. 4. The present invention is acontainer 10 with an access port 15, and closing device 16. Thecontainer 10 of the present invention can be employed for the storage ofdry goods and more particularly, cereals. The container 10 does notinclude any plastic bag to hold dry goods as opposed to conventionalcontainers or cereal cartons. However, the inner walls of the container10 can be coated with lining materials such as wax, aluminum thin film,or other materials to further seal and preserve the freshness of thecontents. The access port 15 should also be of sufficient size to allowfor the easy pour of it's content.

Referring to FIG. 1 through 4, the container 10 is in the shape of acarton defined by front, back, top 13, bottom and a pair of sidesurfaces 14. The upper region of the container 10 may include an angledsurface 12 connected to the top surface 13 and one of the side surfaces14. The angled surface 12 includes an opening defined by an access port15. The access port 15 further comprises a closing device 16 to seal theopening to the container 10. The closing device 16 can be an airtightcap or a similar item that is secured to the access port 15 tohermitically seal the container 10 for preserving its contents. Thecontainer 10 may also include a safety seal 17 between the closingdevice 16 and the opening of the access port 15 to notify the consumerthat the content of the container has not been tampered with. Anexternal safety seal wrapped around the cap or other methods of tamperproofing the container 10 known in the art may also be employed. Theaccess port 15 may also include ridges on its outer surface, whichfacilitate a secure and hermetic fit when the closing device 16 issecured to the access port 15.

When using conventional cereal cartons, a user has to tear open theplastic bag to retrieve its contents. For later use, the user has toseal the plastic bag perfectly. However, the contents become stale ifthe plastic bag is not sealed properly, which is very likely when acereal carton is used by children. The container 10 of the presentinvention overcomes this problem by providing the closing device 16. Auser first twists the closing device 16 on the access port 15 to theopen direction. The closing device 16 may employ a break-away twist capsimilar to those used on milk jugs. Once the closing device 16 is openedand removed, the user would remove the safety seal 17 from the accessport 15. Removal of safety seal 17 removes the final obstacle toaccessing the contents of the container 10. Users then pours out thecontent of the container 10 through access port 15. When the desiredamount has been poured, the closing device 16 is securely replaced ontothe access port 15 to preserve the remaining contents.

All the features disclosed in this specification, including anyaccompanying abstract and drawings, may be replaced by alternativefeatures serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unlessexpressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise,each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series ofequivalent or similar features.

While specific systems and methods have been disclosed in the precedingdescription, it should be understood that these specifics have beengiven for the purpose of disclosing the principles of the presentinvention and that many variations thereof will become apparent to thosewho are versed in the art.

1. A container comprising: front, back, top, bottom and side surfaces inwhich the surfaces are formed into the shape of the container; an accessport connected to at least one surface of the container for providingaccess to the container; and a closing device for sealing the opening ofthe access port to the container.
 2. The container of claim 1, furthercomprising an angled surface connecting one of the side surface with thetop surface to form the angled surface wherein the access port isattached.
 3. The container of claim 1, further comprising a liningmaterial on the interior of the container.
 4. The container of claim 3,in which the lining material is a wax film.
 5. The container of claim 3,in which the lining material is a metallic film.
 6. The container ofclaim 1, further comprising a safety seal between the closing device andopening to the access port.
 7. The container of claim 2, furthercomprising a safety seal between the closing device and opening to theaccess port.
 8. The container of claim 1, wherein the opening of theaccess port is sufficiently large to allow for the discharge of drygoods.
 9. The container of claim 1, wherein the closing device is atwist cap.
 10. The container of claim 1, wherein the container is madeof cardboard.
 11. The container of claim 1, wherein the container is inthe shape of a box.
 12. The container of claim 1, wherein the containeris made of cardboard, in the shape of a box, comprises a safety seal,and the closing device is a twist cap.
 13. The container of claim 1,wherein a content of the container is dry goods.
 14. The container ofclaim 13, wherein the dry goods is cereal.
 15. The container of claim 1,further comprising a tamper proof wrap around the closing device. 16.The container of claim 1, wherein the container further comprises anangled surface between the top and one side surface for attaching theaccess port, a lining material on its interior for preserving thecontent, a safety seal attached to the opening of the access point, andthe closing device is a cap for securing the opening to the access port.17. The container of claim 16, further containing dry goods.
 18. Thecontainer of claim 17, wherein the dry goods are cereal.
 19. Thecontainer of claim 1, wherein the access port has ridges.
 20. A methodof using the container of the present invention comprising the steps of:Opening a closing device of the present container by removing theclosing device from an access port on the container to access thecontent of the container; Pouring out the content of the container ofthe present invention; Closing the closing device of the presentcontainer by replacing the closing device onto the access port.